Basket weave is a tricky technique, so to see this much of it (and done that consistently!) is super impressive. I also love the flowers, and the fact that the baker didn't feel the need to put a creepy baby doll in or on it. Heh. (Yep, that's a little foreshadowing for my next shower post.)

I am sorry but the first cake is scary. It is the eyeball that is creeping me out because it looks like it is staring me down. I didn't think it was a Sunday Sweet. And at first the basket cake looked like a baby casket instead of a baby basket. But after looking at it for awhile I noticed how beautiful it really is. The fondant free cakes are always my favorites because they showcase the most talent. Thanks for posting the fondant free ones.

GORGEOUS cakes, I love culinary art:) Others have mentioned it and I'd really like to know myself as I've always wondered how DO you cut the lopsided/tilted cakes without the whole thing collapsing? Are they on tiers and can stand on their own or...?

To get the ruffles you use the same tip you would for roses such as a 104. They're pretty easy to make too! Here the Wilton website has a step-by-step guide with pictures: http://www.wilton.com/technique/Ruffle

Some of these shower cakes have more servings than my wedding cake. Do they really have this many people at their shower (I can NOT even imagine) or are they just eating leftover cake for the rest of their pregnancy??

I agree with other posters that something on that horse head is just not quite right.

I don't think those ruffles are made with a rose tip, they look more like they were done with a petal tip or a ruffle tip. If you look closely they weren't done sideways along the cake but rather each ruffle is done individually, like a curved petal.

I agree with Annette, the 'ruffle' appears to actually be individual petals. I'd guess 104 but it might be 103, 105, or 106 depending on how large those layers actually are. Definitely 10-something anyway! Fiddly but it's going be more even than a ruffle since it's very tricky to disguise the joins in a ruffle and even harder to go all the way around with a join.

The bassinet really wouldn't be that hard to make, just wicked fiddly and it would take forever. I don't mind doing basket weave on smaller cakes but my piping hand is cramping up just looking at the much weave.

I was really surprised to see that the fondant free cakes are made with buttercream - I always assumed that all your fondant free choices are made with royal icing (and was never quite sure why you took against it tbh.) I don't think I've ever seen a cake iced in buttercream! doesn't it make them a bit sickly? perhaps it's a British thing to only use Royal or fondant icing - royal every time for me :¬)

Anon, buttercream is quite common over here in the States, though the kind of buttercream most people are familiar with is butter or shortening and powdered sugar with a touch of vanilla, and it crusts over. Not as hard as royal icing, but it still crusts over. It's rare to find a decorated cake that's made with meringue-based buttercreams. It doesn't make it any stickier to use buttercream than to use royal icing, in my experience.

As for cutting a topsy turvy or any other stacked cake, you take the layers down one by one and cut them. It's a lot more stable than you think, thanks to boards between each layer and stakes or other stabilizers holding each layer up!

I like #1, 4 and 5. The expression on the rocking horse's face is funny. The bears are great too, #4 is definitely going bwahahahaha but the thumbs up from #5 is probably my favorite. I want to remember this page when we have my sister's baby shower.

My instant thought upon seeing the pink cake was 'The Mad Hatter's Baby Shower.' Yes, I realise what I'm saying.But all those cakes are quite good. 'Sweet Prince' was simple, a little off centre but good.A bit hurried today, so comment is going to be brief.

The pink and brown "K" is my favorite. It looks like the buttercream was smoothed with a paper towel - you can refrigerate the cake until the frosting is cold and solid, then gently place paper towel against the surface and (also gently) smooth the paper towel against the frosting with your hand. When you peel the paper towel away, it will have that look. (Note - use a paper towel without a perforated pattern!)

The topsy-turvy teapots are amazing. The only thing that keeps me alive on Monday mornings is coming in to look at Sunday Sweets (no, I don't look at it at home on the weekend. I don't need to be cheered up on the weekend!). :)

@bridget and others creeped out by the rocking-horse - it appears to be a replica of an actual rocking horse that I've seen before. I'm not able to find a photo of it online, but I've seen more than one of them in church nurseries and people's homes and antique/thrift stores. The fault is definitely not with the cake maker - it really looks just like the horse it must have been modeled after.

I found a photo of the right shape; however, this one is unpainted. You can see the distinctive wavy mane and the curved-forward head, though. http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_V7IT9bKqNuA/SVEq-aEPk6I/AAAAAAAAClE/D2Nebc1FcBE/s400/RockingHorseByGrandpa.jpg

"It's a little creepy to have a baby cake with the "sweet prince" phrase on it. Is there another meaning besides Horatio mourning Hamlet's death?"

Yeah, I thought that too. I love Hamlet, and that's one of my favorite lines "Goodnight, sweet prince. Flights of angels sing thee to thy rest." But I don't want Hamlet's death quoted at my baby shower.

I'm going to go on record to agree with the others here--love all of them except the "Sweet Prince" cake, and I don't know how you'd serve the teapot cake.My problems with the "Sweet Prince" cake began with the dubious reference, and quickly continued along the lines of: off-center, shaky inscription; somewhat (disturbingly) asymmetrical form; tacked-on-looking hanger; and something... weird... going on with the leg holes. Personally, I have to disagree completely. But the rest are great and I love the horse! Too cute.

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